Cluckadoodle Pox
by Lilybud the Storyteller
Summary: With Marian, the blue-haired witch, a good intention usually ends up badly. So when she tries to create a cure for Cluckadoodle Pox, the result turns out to be a disaster. Now she and Micah have to solve her mistake and save the town-otherwise they will need a bigger barn.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**"Cluckadoodle Pox"**

Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon

By, Lilybud the Storyteller

** Welcome to my second story! The first chapter is up with several more to come. I apologize if there are still some minor errors in the first drafts, but I shall fix them as quickly as possible. So please don't be alarmed if you come back to the story and there are some minor changes to it. I set the time in this story so it takes place after (*SPOILER*) the Univir tribe is united with the town, and Micah's secret as a wooly is out. Also, I would be much obliged if you were to review my story! Now, without further ado I present to you: "****Cluckadoodle Pox"!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon.**

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"Stop scratching! You're just going to make it worse," Shara scolded her little sister.

"But it's so ITCHY!" Monica scratched an ugly red bump on her arm but Shara swatted her hand away. Ever since Shara and Monica moved in with their grandfather, Wells, Shara has taken over the parental role to Monica—and she has taken that role _very_ seriously. Ever since two days ago when Monica started to contract little itchy bumps all over her body, Shara has sat by her and refused to let her out of bed. For Monica, that means the end of the world as she knows it. She can't help with the store, can't go outside to play, and can't talk to anyone.

End. Of. The. World.

The only plus side was that Micah, a half-human/half-monster boy who has moved into the Sharance Tree, came to see if she was alright every day. Ever since he pretended to be a prince from her favorite fairy-tale she's liked him more. A few weeks ago, Monica told her sister that she has made up her mind. Once she gets older she will marry that boy. Shara had laughed and patted the girl's head. She said, "Oh Monica, can't you save some of the boys for the rest of us?"

"Sis, when is Micah coming over to visit?" Monica asked.

"The answer is still the same since the last three times you've asked me."

"But I forgot again," Monica said, looking up at Shara with wide, innocent eyes.

Shara sighed. If her sister was cute now, she feared what she would become once she got older.

"He will probably come once he gets a chance, Monica. He has a lot of work to do; tending crops, doing requests, fighting monsters." A dreamy expression appeared in Shara's eyes.

"Yeah, I know." Monica frowned, scratching unconsciously. Monica didn't like that peculiar look on her sister's face when she talks about her Micah. "I just wish he would come sooner."

"I know you do. You just have to wait a little longer. Maybe he'll bring over some flowers for you." The thought made her smile. He was always bringing lovely flowers to her and Monica.

"I hope he brings the cute little pink ones! What do you call those ones again?" she asked as Shara put her hand on her little sister's forehead.

"It's called a pink cat." A worried look clouded Shara's face as she felt the girl's temperature. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the apothecary, Monica?"

She barely finished her sentence when Monica practically yelled. "NOOO! I don't wanna go there!"

"You would see Marjorie, not Marian. You trust Marjorie, don't you?"

"NOOO!" Monica screamed and dove under the blankets. "Nothing can stop Marian!"

Shara sighed but she couldn't blame her sister. The blue-haired witch scared everybody in town, and while Marjorie is an expert she doesn't exactly rein her granddaughter in well. The only thing that's more impossible than controlling Marian was getting Monica to go to the apothecary. Shara gave up and patted the lump of covers Monica was hiding under. "Get some rest. I'll go get Wells to watch you while I make you some herbal tea."

The lump didn't answer. Shara shook her head and went downstairs.

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**Thank you for reading the first chapter of ****"Cluckadoodle Pox"****! I apologize if the first chapter wasn't exceedingly interesting, and I know it's fairly short, but it gets more exciting soon (and longer); that I can promise! So bear with me, please! Also, if you can review—whether it's compliments or friendly criticism—I would really appreciate it. It also helps me to speed up my updates (*hint hint*). Thank you! **


	2. Chapter 2: A Visit

**Welcome to the second chapter of "Cluckadoodle Pox"! I'd like to thank the first people who have reviewed my story_, _and for taking the time and patience to give my new writings a chance. Thank you!**

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By the time Shara finished making the tea and brought it upstairs, Monica was already asleep under the blankets; her little round face just peeking out over the covers. Shara placed the warm tea on the bedside table and sat down in the chair, where she has been for the past two days. She looked at her little sister's sleeping face. The fever brought rosiness to Monica's cheeks and the pox speckled her features. Shara gently brushed back strands of orange hair—a color the sisters shared—out of the sleeping girl's face. She pursed her lips when she felt the sickly warmth radiate from the child's body.

A loud knock sounded through the house. "Get the door!" Wells called. Monica stirred but didn't wake at the noise. Shara got up again and went downstairs. Wells was at his private stall, preening some flowers and muttering worriedly under his breath. Ever since Monica contracted Cluckadoodle Pox the flower shop has been closed. Shara was too busy taking care of Monica, while Wells was too worried to tend to the store. He fussed over that little girl like crazy. No matter how much he tried to deny it he was inevitably a softy.

Shara's spirits instantly lifted when she opened the door. She wasn't surprised when Micah automatically stepped inside and handed her a toyherb. He's been giving flowers to her every day since he first moved into the Sharance Tree. Shara has preserved every single one she has received in her diary—though she would never tell Monica that (or Micah, either).

"Good morning, Micah."

"Morning, Shara," he said brightly. "Morning, Wells!" The old man grunted in response, busily snipping flower stems.

"Thank you for the flower; it's lovely," she said, a hint of weariness leaking into her voice.

"That bad?" he asked.

She sighed and leaned against the wall. "Monica is sleeping right now. The fever is still unusually high for just Cluckadoodle Pox, but she still won't let us take her to the apothecary. I don't know what to do…"

A sad look that she would usually hide appeared on her face. Normally she wouldn't express her weariness or concerns to anyone; she has learned to hide her negative emotions to be strong for everyone else. However, she always found her guard down whenever Micah was around.

"Isn't there a way to just get Marjorie to come over here instead?" he asked, pushing back a strand of his blonde hair away.

Shara shook her head dejectedly. "Unfortunately not, Marjorie has been saying that her joints have been sore lately so she doesn't want to walk."

"That's what happens when you get old," Wells grumbled from his corner.

Shara continued as if he hadn't talk. "Even if she could come she would definitely bring Marian over too, and that's the last thing Monica wants."

Micah laughed. "No doubt about that. That little witch can be awfully scary at times. Well, I have a request that I need to complete for Marjorie, so maybe I could convince her to secretly mix something up." In the center of town there was a request bulletin board. The town villagers would put a request on the board if they needed something. Micah was known for helping out with requests, and all of the villagers appreciated it.

"You would?" Shara clapped her hands, genuinely happy for the first time that day. "That would be terrific!"

"Of course. In fact, I'll go there right now. The sooner the better, right? And if I'm lucky Marian might be out sneaking medicine into Collette's food again."

Shara shook her head. How Collette could survive so many tampered meals went against nature. She put it down on the girl's prized metabolism.

"Monica will be disappointed that she wasn't awake to see you," Shara said.

"Tell her not to worry. I'll be back later today." He took something out of his pocket and handed it to Shara. "Here, give her this. Hopefully it will make her feel better."

It was a small pink cat flower. The experienced gardener could tell that it was freshly plucked this morning. Shara smiled and handled it gingerly. "How do you always know what to give her?"

He winked and opened the door. "Lucky guess. I'll see you later."

"Take care." He walked out and the door shut quietly behind him. Shara walked back upstairs with the small flower in her hand, humming a little tune under her breath. She was in a better mood as she climbed up the stairs than when she went down. Still in his corner, Wells gave a knowing smile as he arranged a bouquet. If things kept up like that, he might need to get some nuptial flowers.

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** Hope you enjoyed it! If you did (or didn't) enjoy it then please review!**


	3. Chapter 3: Never Trust Tea Again

**Wow, I'm on a roll! Three chapters in two days.**

**Right, onto the formal introductions: Welcome to the third chapter of "Cluckadoodle Pox"! In this chapter Marian will finally make her first appearance. To those Marian-Fans, please forgive me if Marian doesn't satisfy you. I am, myself, a huge Marian fan so I hope I did her and her needle justice.**

**Beware: Once you have finished reading this chapter you may never trust tea (or witches) again!**

**I warned you...**

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Even from outside, Micah could hear small explosions and high-pitched yells from inside the building. It seems his luck had run out. Micah grimaced as he prepared himself for the worst when he opened the door and entered the apothecary. His idea of _worst_ expanded tenfold when he saw the mess inside.

Marjorie was nowhere in sight and no one was at the apothecary's counter. There was dark green smoke wafting near the ceiling. It let out a horrid putrid smell that made Micah yearn for fresh air. Matching slime covered the walls. Another explosion sounded with a _poof_ in a separate room, quickly followed by a stream of curses.

With a sense of dread, Micah cautiously entered the room. A blue-haired girl had her wily purple eyes intently set on the brimming cauldron before her. Her lips were in a pout as she stirred the murky fluid inside the cauldron, making it produce the billows of green smoke. The girl was entirely oblivious to the fact that her hair was a sweaty mess, and her outfit and face were smudged with glops of green.

"Marian," Micah muttered incredulously, using his hand to cover his nose and mouth from the vile smell. _Marian_. That one word said it all.

At the sound of her name, Marian looked over to her new guest. A smile perked her sweaty features and she jumped down from her stool, the bubbling cauldron completely forgotten. She grabbed her enormous needle, closed one eye, and aimed it at Micah's chest.

Oh boy...

"Morning, valuable vic—uh, patient! Whatcha need? Flu shot? Cold? Fever? Oh, or are you here to be a vic—eh, _tester _for my new shot?"

Micah's blood ran cold as he stammered for words. It isn't easy to think when an overly eager girl was pointing a gigantic needle at you. "N-n-no! I don't need a shot!"

"Ah, in denial, I see. Don't worry, I'll take care of that!"

She was about to press the plunger when Micah found the words. "Wait! I'm here for Marjorie on a request!" He hurriedly took out the different colored grasses from his rucksack as proof. "See? It said on the board that she needed some more grasses."

The witch's expression instantly drooped and her enthusiasm started to slowly drain away. "Aww, but that's no fun!" She stomped back up to the cauldron that was now making disturbing popping noises. Her eyes were now once again trained on the cauldron as she waved her hand at him in an uninterested dismissal. "Marjorie is at the bathhouse now. It supposedly helps with her joints. You can just put the grass on the counter and leave then." She muttered under her breath, "I could have given her a shot to help just as easily…"

Micah laid the grasses down on the counter as instructed. "Will she be back soon? I was hoping to ask her to make some med—" Only too late did he realize his mistake.

Marian was next to him in a second, needle in hand. She eyed him keenly. "What did you say? Is someone sick? Tell me!"

Micah tried to think up a quick excuse, but Marian's insistent look made all logical thinking impossible. "Tellmetellmetellme!" she said incredibly quickly, her eyes shining with eagerness.

"N-no one!" Micah practically shouted. At that Marian's expression saddened a fraction. However, she quickly perked up (as it was her style) and shrugged surprisingly nonchalantly.

"Oh, well. What a pity," she said, lowering her needle. Micah almost breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, before you go would you care for a cup of tea?" A porcelain cup of steaming tea somehow appeared in her hand. It gave off a lovely robust, herbal smell. She gave it to him with an odd glint in her eyes.

"Oh, thank you." Micah took it gladly. As soon as he took a sip and swallowed Marian instantly grabbed the cup out of his hand, where it mysteriously vanished into thin air.

Something didn't feel right all of a sudden… Micah's head felt light and airy, and all thoughts and emotions quieted to a distant hum. He felt as if he was on the brim of sleep.

"Now, Micah," Marian said sweetly. "What were you saying again?"

As if he was watching himself in a dream his own voice replied drowsily, "Monica has Cluckadoodle Pox. Shara and Wells are worried because she has a really high temperature. She doesn't want to go to the apothecary, though."

Marian nodded her head solemnly as she took in every word. A smile turned her lips. This could work out beautifully…

She patted Micah on the head. "Good boy. Why don't you go take a nap while Marian's working?"

"Mmmh-kay," he said in a pleasant sleepy tone as he went upstairs, presumably to her bedroom.

Marian let out a devious snigger. Works every time. She went back to her cauldron and got to work. It was a good thing she knew how to secretly tamper with food so well, thanks to Collette. It was also a good thing she knew that Monica loved cookies so much.

_Yup,_ Marian thought. _Everything will work out just fine. Don't you worry, Monica. Marian will make it __**all **__better_.

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**Thanks again for taking the time and effort to read my next chapter! If you find the quality lacking from updating too fast (I have an awful habit of lacking patience...) then please tell me. I do not want to compromise the quality of the story for speed (or my lack of patience). However, if you think it's just fine then glorious! Either way, please send me a review! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: A Problem Solved

**Welcome to Chapter Four of "Cluckadoodle Pox"! This chapter will be more or less what I call a "filler" chapter, so there won't be any momentous event in it. I'm saving that for later! Hehehe…**

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Micah sat up in a jolt in a sheeted blue bed. The unfamiliar room before him left him confused. Since when did he have a huge mirror in his room? _Ugh!_ A vulgar scent bombarded his nostrils. He covered his mouth and nose with his hand. And since when did his house have such an _awful_ smell?

That's when it hit him. He wasn't in his house, his beloved Sharance tree. He was in Marian's room! "Oh, no, what did _I do_?" Immediately, he got up from Marian's bed (that would have been an awkward situation if somebody saw him) and was about to bolt out the door when something caught his eye.

In the corner of the room was a desk piled high with messy stacks of books. On the top of one pile was a white piece of folded paper. Written on the top of the paper Micah saw his own name printed in bold ink. He hastily grabbed the sheet and opened it up. Inside it read:

_If you are reading this, then the tea has worn off. Monica should be just fine, thanks to the two of us! Now, I'm off to try some new medicine on Collette. Thanks for all of your help! _

_-Marian_

_PS: If you don't want your fingernails to be extracted painfully, then __DO NOT__ touch any of the bottles on my shelves!_

His gaze went nervously to the little multi-colored bottles neatly lined up in a shelf beside Marian's bed. Each of the little containers was labeled in the young witch's handwriting. A triangular yellow bottle read: _Collette's Secret Dose_, while another orange one said: _Chambers of a Heart. _One container that especially caught Micah's attention was a peculiar blue bottle that was labeled: _Wooly Extractions_.

A sickening feeling squirmed in his stomach. The note fell from his hand. Before the piece of paper had even reached the floor, Micah had bolted out of the room and out of the apothecary. His first destination: Run away. His second destination: Save Monica.

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Micah ran left to the main town. He passed the blacksmith's store, where Raven was cleaning with a broom outside, and went to the Fantastic Flowers shop. He opened the door and instantly released the intoxicating fragrance from the flowers in the shop. Shara was right in front of him, preparing to head outside.

"Shara, is Monica alright?" he asked in a rush, as the two of them stepped out of the store and into the town.

A huge grin spread across her face and her eyes lit up. "Oh, Micah, she's fantastic!"

That stopped him in his tracks. "R-really? She's actually okay?"

She nodded, all of the weariness gone. "Yes, she's up and about right now! Soon after she woke up from her nap the pox started to disappear, and the fever immediately went down. As soon as I would let her go she went to Privera Flower Field. I'm heading that way now to check up on her."

"Wow, that's great," Micah said, trying to appear more enthusiastic than he actually was. Something still bothered him, though…"And you're sure that no, uh, visitors came?"

Shara looked at him with a puzzled expression. "No, nobody except you. Why? Was someone supposed to be coming?"

Micah wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. So Marian didn't see Monica after all. "Oh, no, I was just curious."

"Oh, alright then. Well, I should be going now. I don't want to keep Monica waiting." She started to walk off, but then she tentatively stopped and called back. "By the way, Micah?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks so much for coming over all the time. Monica and I…really look forward to it." Perhaps Micah was mistaken, but it looked like there was a faint pinkness to her face. He decided it was probably the earlier stress.

"Yeah, of course. What are friends for?" he said brightly.

Shara's happy expression seemed to decline slightly, but she still waved and gave a little smile as she walked away. Only later would Shara realize that she still had little crumbs that speckled around her mouth. She knew she shouldn't have eaten Monica's treat, but she couldn't resist just one bite.

"…Idiot," Raven muttered, once Shara was gone. Micah had forgotten the girl was still outside in hearing distance. He was about to ask what she meant, but Raven had already went inside the blacksmith's shop, the door closing behind her with a resounding thud.

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**Thank you for reading this far! Now for a little sneak-peek/tip: Always treat your animals well...**


	5. Chapter 5: Or not

**Welcome to chapter five! Not much for me to say except: Read On! **

**Oh, and just to be safe: ****Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to any of the Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon**

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The next day, everything was happening as usual. Micah was still doing his daily chores around his farm. His land was definitely not your average farm area. Since he lived in the Sharance Tree, the first floor was used for his house, while the ground floor was saved for his fields. In the ground floor, there were two separate fields where Micah planted all of his crops for each season.

It was near the end of the season, so he had just finished sickling the dying crops. Later, he would have to buy more seeds from the Diamond General Store to plant. For now, he stood in the middle of the two fields that were emptied and barren. The end of a season was always his least favorite time. To Micah, it was depressing to see the wilting crops and unproductive fields, instead of having fields filled with lush plants. He even missed the smell: with thriving plants the scent of dewdrops and flowers are unforgettable. That and frankly, the excess dehydrated fields produced dust that just made Micah want to sneeze.

It was only around eight o'clock and Micah was already sweaty and a little sore. Sickling was not an easy task at all. However, there were still chores to be done. Above the fields and to the left was a small barn. He entered the building and was greeted by the smell of fodder and his monsters brushing up against him. So far he had tamed only three gentle buffamoos: Bessy, Spots, and Utters. They came up to him happily and he was instantly wet from their tongues licking his face. For gigantic beasts, they were undeniably cuddly babies at heart.

"Oh, come on you guys, stop it!" Micah said halfheartedly as he wiped his face. By now, he was used to the smelly bathing system that came with owning buffamoos. He took out his brush from his rucksack and started to clean their coats one by one. The buffamoos nudged against him, utterly content.

He had just finished cleaning the three buffamoos, the brush already put away, when suddenly the barn doors flew open with a bang. A hysterical Shara was standing in the doorway, tears filled in her eyes. Nestled in her arms was a little yellow chick—specifically, a cluckadoodle chick.

"M-Micah," She sobbed. "Something has happened to Monica!"

Immediately, Micah abandoned his nuzzling buffamoos and was at her side. "What is it? Is she okay?"

Shara shook her head frantically and held up the little chick, as if that would explain everything. The chick let out a small _chirp_ and stared at him with…_orange_ eyes?! Micah may not be an expert on cluckadoodles, but he knew enough to know that they did not have orange eyes…but that color looked _so_ familiar.

A wild idea occurred to him. "That chick..? It's not..?"

The chick leapt out of Shara's hands just enough to peck Micah's fingers. "_Ow_!"

That settled it.

"How did that happen?" Micah asked incredulously, keeping his distance from the pecking chick.

Shara's voice was shaky as she tried to explain, tears still spilling down her cheeks. "Wells was gone this morning, because he was going to the Univir tribe for a council meeting. So I was just making breakfast for Monica and me, since we always eat together. While we were eating, Monica was telling me about an accessory she was making. Everything was fine, Monica was fine. But then I don't know what happened—she just suddenly collapsed. Then it was so _odd_! It was like sparkles started to swarm her. It kind of looked like what happens when you transform into a wooly. Then in her place…"she didn't continue. Instead she just hugged the chick closer to her chest. "I already went to the apothecary but the sign said it was closed. I think Marjorie had gone with Wells to the meeting. I'm not sure when they would be back. So I went here instead."

"Did anything weird happen yesterday? Anything out of the ordinary that could have triggered this?" Micah asked.

Shara shook her head. "No, noth—wait." Her eyes widened as an idea came to her. "Yesterday, while Monica was still sick I found a plate of cookies on the shop's counter. Cookies are Monica's favorite so I gave them to her. I just figured that Blaise had made them; he always bakes for everyone in town. But when I went over there yesterday to thank him, he didn't seem to know about it. I didn't think much of it later—I was just glad that Monica was alright. But how could cookies cause this?"

"I'm not sure, but I doubt this could have happened out of nowhere."

"Maybe—" Shara stopped suddenly. Her face twisted up like she was in pain, and the chick let out a startled chirp. Monica jumped out of her sister's arms and landed with a small plop on the floor. She scuttled off behind Micah's feet, while her sister wrapped her arms around herself, whimpering.

"Shara, are you okay?" Micah asked, panic in his voice.

The only response was a strangled cry from the girl. Shara dropped down onto her hands and knees, her body shuddering uncontrollably. Mooing nervously, the buffamoos were moved to the back of the barn.

Micah didn't know if he should help her up or not—she was shaking so much. Then right before his eyes, a few faint sparkles glittered around the trembling girl. Shara was right: it looked like what happened when Micah turned into a wooly, his half-monster form. As fast as a wink, the girl disappeared and suddenly in her place was a grown cluckadoodle. It blinked at Micah with Shara's exact blue eyes, and let out a nervous _bwak_. Monica hurriedly crept away from behind Micah's feet and ran towards her transformed sister.

For a moment, Micah just stood there frozen. Just a moment ago his best friend was talking to him, and now she was a feathery animal. Albeit, a cute feathery animal, but an animal nonetheless.

Monica, who had become impatient with his lack of actions, pecked his leg. That made his reasoning set back in. He quickly put out more fodder (he hoped that the sisters' appetite had changed as well), gave the three befuddled buffamoos stern instructions to play nice, and reassured the two cluckadoodles that everything would be alright. Hopefully. In reply, he earned another peck by a certain little cluckadoodle.

Then he hurriedly ran out of the barn and made sure the doors were securely closed behind him. Micah knew he would need to get help—and he knew exactly where to find it. The problem was that he wasn't sure it would work…

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**Dun-dun-dun! Stay tuned to find out what happens next! **

**Reviews would be welcomed! (If you've read this far, don't you think you could spare some time to write a little review? Pretty please?)**


	6. Chapter 6: Perks of Maternal Traits

**Welcome to chapter six of "Cluckadoodle Pox"! In this chapter, you may find Micah to be slightly out of character. Though I always try to make the characters retain as much of their original aspects as I possibly can, this was just too much fun for me to resist! So in advance, if you find Micah not to your liking then I apologize. One last detail to clarify: Looking back, I believe that this chapter was also slightly a "filler" chapter. Again, there is not a huge momentous event in this chapter, but it is still just as needed. Read on, and you shall see why. Other than that, onto the story!**

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"GO AWAY! WE'RE CLOSED!"

Micah banged loudly on the door again, ignoring the yelling completely. From the past five minutes of pounding on the door (three to just get Marian out of bed, and two for the yelling match), Micah's hands were sore and getting cramped. Hitting repeatedly on a splintery, solid-wood door would not help anybody's hands. "Marian, if you could just—"

"I SAID _GO AWAY_!"

"But I just—"

"NO!"

"_MARIAN VIVI MELODY!_ IF YOU DO NOT COME OUT HERE THIS MINUTE I WILL FILL YOUR ROOM WITH TOMATOES _EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR_!"

There was a moment of silence. Then Micah heard loud clicks coming from the opposite side of the door. Marian stepped out with her arms crossed against her chest in a pout. Her face was red from yelling and her eyes were glossy from sleep. Micah could almost sense the exasperation coming off of her.

"You sound like a mom. Did you know that?" she said petulantly.

Micah felt his cheeks go red but pushed that comment aside. There were more important matters to discuss than remarks of maternal traits. Although…being mother-like did have some perks.

She was about to slam the door in Micah's face, but he was too fast. Quite differently from his usual behavior, he grabbed the witch by her ear and dragged her out into the open. Thank goodness no one was outside to witness that. People might have expected Raven to grab someone in an ear-hold, but not calm, collective Micah.

"Ow! Stopitstopitstopit!" she squealed.

He let go of his hold as the door slammed shut behind her, forfeiting her escape. "What did you do?!"

"What did I do with what?" she said, rubbing her ear and wincing. Thankfully, it was the one time she didn't have her huge needle with her. If she did, Micah knew he would have paid hell.

Taking a deep breath he answered, "I _meant_, what did you do to Monica?"

"Why, I fixed her of course!" she stated proudly.

Micah almost groaned in frustration. Usually he didn't get angry very easily, but having two cluckadoodles, who are actually his friends, cooped up (no pun intended) in his barn didn't help his attitude much.

"No," he said slowly, trying to muster his patience. "If she was fixed, she and Shara wouldn't be a cluckadoodle right now."

Marian blinked. "Does that mean I could try some new medicine on them?"

Patience gone. He grabbed her by the ear again and started to tug her away.

"Ow, ow, _owwwww_!"

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Thankfully, it was too early for anyone to be outside yet. Otherwise his display through town would have made quite a spectacle. However, it was surprising when nobody had even opened their doors to Marian's cries and protests.

He didn't let go of her ear until they were at his barn. By then Marian's ear was red and blotchy. "Ow! You almost yanked it off!" she snapped. Micah felt a wave of guilt. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Marian turned around in a huff. Staring at her was three large buffamoos and two upset cluckadoodles. The two cluckadoodles looked up at her with familiar pairs of orange and blue eyes.

"Uh…" she said uncertainly, as she stared down several curious pairs of eyes. "Didn't you mention something about cluckadoodles?"

"Yup."

"And didn't you mention that they are actually Shara and Monica?"

"Yup."

Her eyes went wide. "Oooh, I'm in trouble."

"Yup."

Marian stood there for a moment, deep in thought. The cluckadoodles hid under a pile of fodder, obviously recognizing the zealous witch and wanting nothing to do with her. Marian suddenly looked up and announced, "Micah, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Micah by the ear and dragged him out of the barn. Once outside, she let go of him and put her hands on her hips. Micah was not the only one who could do a good impersonation of a mom. The look the witch was giving him was a look only a mom could pull off—a look that everyone knows quite well.

"Ow. Okay, I guess I deserved that," Micah said remorsefully, rubbing his ear.

"Just be grateful I don't have my needle with me."

"Yeah, you're scary with that thing," he mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?" Marian glared at him dangerously, giving him the mom-look again.

"Nothing, ma'am."

"That's what I thought."

She started to pace in front of him, mumbling quietly to herself with her head bent in deep thought. Micah could almost see the gears moving in her mind, and he wouldn't dare to interrupt her contemplation. After a few minutes of this, she stopped and shook her head miserably.

"This is _bad_. Sooo bad."

"No kidding." Being the optimistic he is, he said, "Well, it could be worse. At least it's only the two of them instead of even more people."

Marian gave him a withering look. "That's the problem, genius." Then she said in a matter-of-factly doctor tone, "Cluckadoodle pox is a highly contagious virus. Though, if you already had the virus then you probably won't get it again, but since this virus has morphed…"

"Then anyone can catch it."

Marian nodded. "Time to go cluckadoodle hunting!"

* * *

**Author's note: When I wrote Marian's "full name" I just made up the part about "Vivi Melody", since in the game it doesn't say what Marian's actual full name is. Also, congratulations if you had spotted the reference(s)!**

**Also, a little warning: The next chapter might take a little longer to be updated, so I apologize if you happen to wait. However, I do promise that it will also be a longer chapter than usual. That is the main reason why I have posted this chapter a little earlier, as well. (I couldn't stand the wait of posting it tomorrow...)**

**Now for another little spoiler: If you have ever wondered what the Rune Factory 3 villagers would be like if they were to become animals, you will find out in the next chapter!**

**Stay tuned! (And review, please!)**


	7. Chapter 7: Clucknapping

**Welcome back to the seventh chapter "Cluckadoodle Pox!" I apologize that this chapter took a whole lot longer to update, but I've been extremely busy lately so I haven't had much time to write. That and it was rather difficult for me to write a longer chapter and still maintain a good balance of too many details to too little details. Sorry! Also, remember when I said that this chapter will be longer than my usual ones? Well, I can safely say that I had kept that promise. This chapter is at least 2x what I usually write. I highly doubt that I will make a habit of writing chapters this long, but hey; who knows, right? **

**Anyways, enough with the rant. Hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

The cluck-nappers had their plan all figured out:

**Step 1: **Investigate villages and look for virus (aka: said villagers turned into cluckadoodles with peculiar qualities).

**Step 2:** If said villager/cluckadoodle is infected, temporarily kidnap them.

**Step 3:** Proceed to stash said infected person/cluckadoodle at Micah's barn.

**Step 4: **Repeat steps 1-3 until entire town is covered.

**Step 5:** Cure said infected villagers/cluckadoodles. (Step still in progress)

**Step 6:** Become world-renowned heroes. (Step still in progress)

It was fool-proof…sort of. Okay…so _maybe_ they still had a few teensy problems to sort out…

One of those problems evolved around a wish from a certain overly passionate witch: As they were walking out of Micah's field, the witch started to plead that they should stop at the apothecary to retrieve her needle. She argued that she could make a tranquilizer so it could be easier to take the cluckadoodles. Obviously, Micah wouldn't allow it.

"Please! I have very good aim!" Marian pleaded. The bad part was that Marian was right: her aim was deadly (quite literally at times).

"No," Micah said simply.

"But it would help so much!"

"No."

"Just—"

"I _will_ grab you by the ear again."

Marian groaned and huffily blew a strand of hair out of her purple eyes. They walked through Flower Way, the main part of town, together with a breeze blowing gently across their faces. In Micah's hand was a large sack, while in Marian's was a sizable net. Not suspicious at all…

Their first stop would be the Diamond General Store; home to the shop owner, Hazel, and her idle daughter, Karina. Micah and Marian opened the door to the store, and inside there were shelves stocked full with a wide assortment of items. One shelf was lined with cooking materials and ready-made food, while another shelf contained seeds from each four seasons. Even the aroma that drifted in the air was as diverse as the products; tart marmalade, sweet wine, and spicy curry powder. At the general store, you could find almost anything…except consistent quality service.

Instead of being greeted by an average clerk's hello, Micah and Marian were greeted by soft snoring. Leaning heavily on the counter was Karina, head cushioned in her arms and mouth wide open and snoring. Micah couldn't say he was very surprised; everybody in town knew that Karina constantly napped on the job.

"Well, that's one person crossed off our list," Marian said happily. Right after she finished speaking, shimmering lights started to appear around the obliviously sleeping girl. Karina didn't even stir when her pale skin started to sprout feathers. In just a second, a dozing cluckadoodle was on the counter.

"Spoke too soon," muttered Marian.

"Karina!" Hazel's voice yelled from the top of the staircase. "I thought I heard the door open."

"_Quick!_" The witch whispered frantically to Micah. "Grab her!"

Micah rushed into action as Hazel's voice still came from above. Her footsteps started to creak down the stairs, and Micah felt as if he was in some sort of crime movie. "Karina! You better not be sleeping!" _Too late. _Micah ran over as quietly as he could to the counter and scooped up the snoring cluckadoodle. (Can cluckadoodles even snore?)

Marian and Micah were out of the shop in a second. The sack on Micah's back was suddenly heavy but was also motionless (of course). Once the door was closed behind them they could still hear the calls of Hazel from inside. "Karina? You lazy girl! Where did you go?!"

* * *

Once they had completed step three of their plan (stash said villager/cluckadoodle in Micah's barn), their next target was the blacksmith. Both of the two cluck-nappers hesitated at the door. Neither Micah nor Marian wanted to enter the shop since they knew Raven would be there.

In order to decide things they had a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. They counted to three in unison. Micah's hand clenched into a fist and at the same time Marian stuck out her index and middle finger. Micah smiled good-naturedly, not revealing how relieved he actually was. She frowned and grumbled, "Leave it to a guy to choose rock…"

Marian had barely even poked her head through the doorway when Raven spotted her from the counter. "Leave," Raven said in a blood-chilling tone that left no room for debate. Marian ran away faster than light itself. "RETREAT!" she yelled.

Another person to check off their list.

* * *

Once the two of them fled from the blacksmith, they took a southern path that led them near the Privera Forest. Right outside of the forest entrance lived Daria, the elven artist who was obsessed with rainbows. Close by was the well-known Privera Flower Field. It was one of the four main natural wonders by the Sharance town. Even from afar you could smell the lovely fragrance of the numerous flowers. The flowers themselves were of such different varieties, and the field was overflowing with the plants; it was like something out of a fairytale.

Being so close to the field made Micah think about Shara and Monica. The two sisters absolutely adored the flower field. The sisters had always put in the extra effort to go to the field daily in order to tend to the plants there. Several times they brought Micah along with them to help; he knew that it was a special honor that the sisters did not give out often. _If only they could enjoy it now, _Micah thought sadly. Then he shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of the pessimistic thoughts. If he wanted the sisters to enjoy the flowers, then he would first have to focus on what he needed to do.

At Daria's house there was an odd mixture of smells in the air. This was mostly from the combination of the constant amount of paint that Daria uses, and the fragrance coming from Privera Flower Field. This wasn't a very surprising reaction since even the roof on Daria's house was splattered in odd strokes of paint. Along the house were peculiar statues that the elven artist made herself. She was quite proud of her work; she had once given Micah a tour of her works throughout Privera.

This time the two cluck-nappers went in the house together. Stacked against every available corner were _unique_ models that the artist had made herself. To the left of the doorway were a couple of steps that led down to a little artistian's area. It contained an easel and (to no one's surprise) even more models piled in the far corner. Standing upon a stool next to the easel was a rainbow-feathered cluckadoodle with blue eyes and a peculiar hat that resembled one of a pirate's. In its beak it held a paintbrush that somehow streaked the colors of the rainbow across the board each time the cluckadoodle used it. When Micah and Marian entered the house the cluckadoodle barely glanced in their direction, and simply resumed to painting rainbow colors.

"Daria," Micah said simply.

"Daria." Marian snatched the animal (hat and brush included) in her net and carried her off. Along the way back to Micah's quickly filling barn, Marian's net somehow had become rainbow colors.

* * *

They made their way to Dragon Lake. The sand was warm and gritty beneath their feet, and the water was sparkling clear. Out in the middle of the lake was a small island that held the Dragon Cave. On the outside, the cave looked like an old, worn-down shrine. The island itself was inaccessible to most people, due to its location in the deep waters. Even so, most of the villagers do not go near the shrine because of its queerness.

On the shore was a small shop called Carlos' Resort. It was where the green-haired siblings, Carlos and Carmen, ran a fishing resort. This was the cluck-nappers next destination. Even from outside Micah and Marian could hear a loud, heart-wrenching sobbing. They shared a worried glance. Marian was about to enter the shop when Micah held her back. One look was passed between them and they silently agreed that Micah should go in alone.

When Micah entered the store, the smell of salty fish in the air, the fisherman had his back turned to him. His shoulders were shuddering violently and it looked like he was holding something. He turned around so Micah saw what he was holding. It was a green-feathered cluckadoodle.

"C-Carmen." He sobbed, the tears pouring freely down his face. "My dear, dear sister." His dear sister let out a shrill cry.

"Don't worry, Carlos," Micah said soothingly. "I can help her."

"You can?" Carlos' voice shook, and it was like he had the same quality as a little child as he cried: uncontrollable and needed someone to be in charge.

"Yes, I can, but I need you to hand her to me." Micah held out his hands.

Carlos hesitated but then set the cluckadoodle gently into Micah's grasp. "J-just help her, okay?" He sniffed as Micah held his sister. "Also she'll only eat fish. And never give her pumpkins. And she likes to preen her feathers at least twice a day. And—"

"Right. Got it," Micah said, cutting him off. Carmen started to anxiously fidget once she left her brother's grasp, but Micah didn't dare to put her in the sack with her brother watching. That wouldn't be very good for future conversations.

Micah, with Carmen safely in his hands, left the resort. He could still hear Carlos crying once the door closed behind them. Marian rejoined Micah at the entrance. "That green-haired dude is just so _buff_, and yet so sensitive" she marveled, eyes glittering. It seemed that she was peeking through the window during their conversation. Micah ignored that comment and they went back to his barn.

* * *

Their next destination led them to the East End, where the apothecary and the De Sainte-Coquille mansion were located. When the two of them passed the apothecary, Micah could still smell the awful stench from within. He shuddered at his memories there. It was not a place where he would ever trust the drinks served there again.

Marian looked at Micah with wide, purple eyes.

"Please?" she said, her lips pursed in a childish pout.

"No."

Marian sighed, but otherwise left the argument alone.

The De Sainte-Coquille mansion was exactly what you would expect a mansion to be. Two elegant statues were situated by the house, while petite flowerbeds surrounded the area. The regal two-story house itself had a mind-boggling amount of windows that were trimmed in gold, as well as the fences. It was quite a contrast to the kooky looking apothecary next door.

Of course, you should never judge a house by its outside, but instead of the people living in it… For the De Sainte-Coquille family were strange people, indeed (or just as strange as everyone else in Sharance town). Sherman was an odd man, who possessed an even odder way of speaking. Both he and his youngest daughter, Sofia, always spoke in opposites. Evelyn, Sherman's eldest daughter, had her odd traits as well. She was a clothes-designer who could make clothes out of anything (and when I say anything, I mean ANYTHING), though her clothes definitely required a _peculiar_ taste to be appreciated.

This time Micah and Marian decided to go in the mansion together. Micah was a bit overwhelmed when he entered the mansion. There was a large, regal staircase that took up the center of the room. To the left of it was Evelyn's clothing shop. Lining the walls, were clothes Evelyn had designed herself. You could always easily identify the clothes she had made: some had bits of turnips, while others had fish, and various pieces of scrap metal. Give Evelyn any random item and she could make an outfit with it (just not an outfit you would expect/want).

As soon as Micah and Marian stepped through the doorway they were greeted by an uproar. It seemed to be coming from Evelyn's shop. The two of them gathered their courage, and went to where the sound was coming from. Feathers everywhere were thrust into the air as Evelyn chased a cluckadoodle around and around her shop, hitting into the articles of clothing as they went.

Evelyn cried as she chased the animal. "Come on, I just need a few more feathers! Don't you want me to make you a better feather outfit, Sofia?"

_Sofia?!_

"_Kwab_!" Even as a cluckadoodle, Sofia still managed to say things in opposites, or in this case, backwards. The two sisters chased each other in a circle as Micah and Marian just stood there watching, not really knowing what to do. It was almost dizzying to try and keep up with their movements.

The two sisters probably would've kept on running if Marian hadn't intervened. "Alright, I've had enough," she said. With precision aim and perfect timing, she hoisted her rainbow-colored net and placed it directly in the sister's running path. Sofia was the first to come, and ran head first into the trap with a yelp. A second later, Marian lifted the net up with the cluckadoodle stuck inside.

"Hey!" Evelyn complained, panting. Her usually tidy purple hair was in disarray and her signature hat was tilting off her head. Marian just wordlessly turned around and left with the net that held Sofia flung over her shoulder. That left Micah alone to tend to the other girl. He didn't wait to see if he would receive another mom-stare. Instead, he raised his hands in a helpless manner and sped away.

* * *

Next stop: Diner

Even from afar the diner oozed delicious smells. You could almost taste the sweet aroma in the air from the pastries Rusk makes, and the daily skill-learning breads that Blaise is famous for. Just the smell alone could make your mouth water. However, for whatever strange reason, you would never find any alcohol in the diner.

The famous town chef, Blaise, came from far away in order to run his diner in Sharance town. Both of his children, Rusk and Collette, also helped their father run the restaurant (though Collette eats more than she cooks). You would never find his diner empty of eating people.

There were several tables set up in the restaurant, and one table was overflowing with plates filled with food. Half of the table was covered from view due to the huge piles of full plates, while the other half was filled with empty ones. From behind the large pile of meals was the sound of someone eating. On the other side of where the empty plates were, sat Rusk. He looked bored as he watched one plate after another being relieved of its contents. Whenever an empty plate would be tossed to the other side of the table, Rusk would grab another full one and pass it around to whoever was eating. Take a wild guess who that was.

Blaise was at the kitchen that was behind the counter, busily cooking up meal after meal as he always did. He looked up once when Micah and Marian entered the diner and then he returned his attention to cooking. He said in a casual voice, "Hello, Marian."

Micah looked at her in confusion as she suddenly fidgeted nervously. "H-h-hello, Mister Blaise," she stuttered. Micah raised an eyebrow as Rusk started to snigger. Since when did anyone call Blaise _mister?_

Blaise didn't look up from his cooking when he asked, "Marian, what did you do to Collette?" He asked the question as if he was asking what the weather was like today.

"W-what do you mean, sir?"

"Look behind the pile of food, please."

The two of them warily went behind the full table as Rusk continued to impishly chuckle. "You are in _soooo_ much trouble."

Marian gulped.

On the other side of the table was a cluckadoodle with blonde little buns on each side of its head. It was gobbling plate after plate of food without even taking a breath of air in between. Then it seemed to realize that Micah and Marian were watching it. It looked up with yellowy-amber eyes—Collette's eyes.

Rusk started to snort flippantly. "I always knew she was a pig, but I never realized that she was also a cluckadoodle."

"Cluckadoodle-doo!" Collette screeched, and jumped into her blue-haired best-friend's arms.

Marian buried her head in Collette's feathers. "I'm sorry, Collette. I'll fix you soon, I promise," she said, her voice a little shaky. She earned a peck from Collette in response.

Micah couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a tear in Marian's eyes. Perhaps she had actually learned her lesson for once. He just hoped that she would remember it.

"Marian?" Blaise said from the kitchen.

She looked up. "Yes, sir?"

"If you fail to keep that promise, I'll feed you tomatoes for a year instead of the three months I have already decided." He said as he flipped a pancake into the air.

She gulped again. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Micah and Marian dropped off Collette at the barn, and then they made their way to the last destination: the inn and bathhouse. They left the Sharance Tree and took the path to the right. Micah noticed suddenly that it was oddly quiet. That's when he saw that Marian was not walking beside him as she usually had, but instead trailing behind. Her head was down and her hair was covering her face. She seemed much different than her usually peppy and destructive self.

"Are you okay?" Micah asked, as he walked back to her.

"Yeah, of course I am." Though her tone was bright she didn't look up, but instead tilted her head slightly away from him.

Micah regarded her carefully as she kept her eyes away from him. "Hey, what is it?"

"Nothing. Leave me be," she said, her tone quickly darkening. She started to quicken her pace, but Micah caught her arm and pulled her back. Neither of them moved or said anything. Micah was the first to break the silence.

"Marian, what's wrong?" Micah said softly.

She turned her head away again. "Nothing."

"Hey," he said more sternly. "Marian, look at me."

When she didn't, he took her chin in his hand and gently but firmly raised it so she was forced to look at him. Her purple eyes were watery and shining a little too brightly, and her mouth was pulled into a small frown. She jerked her head away and his hand fell limply to his side again.

"Marian, just tell me what's wrong."

Though they were still close to each other, it felt as if they were standing miles apart. Finally, she said, "It's nothing. Or everything. I don't know, Micah!" Frustrated, she shook her head and kicked a pebble on the ground. It landed with a small _ping_ a distance off as Marian looked down again.

"Is this about Collette?" he asked patiently.

"Yeah, I guess so. I dunno." It seemed as if she wasn't about to say anything for a moment, but then she burst out, "Why can't I do anything right!" Her shoulders shook as she sobbed and she tried to cover her face with her hands.

"Hey, hey, now." As if she was a small child, Micah went in front of her and knelt onto his knees. He gently took her hands and pulled them down to her sides so he could look at her face. He smiled soothingly. "Everybody makes mistakes. You were just trying to help Monica, that's all."

She laughed bitterly. "Yeah, and look how well that turned out. Everybody is a cluckadoodle, I have no idea how to make a cure and if I did I would probably just mess it up, and now I will have to eat tomatoes for _three months_!"

Then to her total surprise, Micah started to laugh. He wasn't laughing bitterly like she had done, but laughing as if he found this genuinely amusing. "Hey!" she said angrily. "Why are you laughing at me? This isn't funny!"

He kept on laughing as she glared at him, her face as red as a tomato itself from an equal amount of crying and being angry.

."You have to admit—" He tried to talk in between gasps of air and laughing "—that it is pretty funny once you think about it."

"No, it isn't!" She tried to keep her tone angry, but the tip of her mouth started to turn upwards as she watched his silly face.

"Sure it is." He wiped a tear from his eye and smiled. "Just about every villager we have seen who had turned into a cluckadoodle are behaving just like they would as if they were still a human! Daria is still painting things rainbow, Sofia is speaking backwards, and Collette's stomach is still a black hole! Not to mention that Carmen is the color green…"

Marian couldn't help but laugh as even more tears poured down her face. She half-heartedly hit Micah on the shoulder. "You should be trying to comfort me, not laughing at me!"

Micah shrugged and smiled cheerfully. "Two cluckadoodles with one stone. Pun intended." His expression turned serious as he said, "Honestly though, we'll figure all of this out."

Marian looked at him, her purple eyes revealing her true concern and doubt. "You really think so?"

He nodded. "Of course I do."

Marian smiled, the tears no longer streaking down her face. Then her expression slowly turned to its usual sly self as her eyes began to sparkle happily once again. "You know, now I see why women like you so much. You're so sensitive."

Now it was Micah's turn to be dumbfounded. "What…?"

Marian chuckled impishly and started to walk ahead, leaving him behind to wonder. "Boys…"

* * *

The rest of the distance was short, and in minutes they crossed the little bridge that led to Shino's inn. Micah was about to enter the building when he noticed that Marian was once again not beside him. He looked back, expecting her to be sullen again, but instead she was just standing back with a little mischievous smile. "Hey," she said, raising her hands up. "I went in last time so now it's your turn."

"We _both _went in last time," Micah pointed out.

She shrugged but didn't move from her spot. "Your point?"

Micah rolled his eyes but went inside the inn. Once he was gone she started to snigger. Marian knew better to go inside when Shino was upset; she's deadly when it comes to her girls, Sakuya and Pia. _Besides,_ Marian thought, _if he gets hurt I can just fix him up with some medicine._

Inside Micah became suddenly warm. The air was hot and humid, with steam wafting near the ceiling that came from the baths in the two adjoining rooms. To Micah's surprise, Shino wasn't at the inn's counter like she usually was. In fact, Sakuya wasn't at her stall trying to sell monster products either. Okay…Micah didn't like the feeling of this.

"Hello?" he called out tentatively. "Shino? Sakuya? Anyone home? It's me, Micah."

Shino's voice came from another room. "In here!" Micah gulped. The voice was coming from the woman's bath. He hesitantly walked to the curtains that covered the bath's doorway, but didn't dare go any further. He stood there for a moment, debating what to do, when the voice came again. "You can come in, Micah. Don't worry, I'm dressed."

He slowly pushed the curtain aside to reveal Shino (fully dressed) sitting by the bath with her feet dangling in the steamy water. He would've been embarrassed that he was in the woman's bath, but his attention was elsewhere. In Shino's hands was a _very_ sharp blade that she was twirling expertly. It made a whishing sound as it cut swiftly through the air, and the way it glinted against the light made Micah suddenly feel queasy. A drop of sweat slipped down his forehead.

Shino turned to look at Micah, blade still in hand. Though a faint smile was on her face, her usually calm, violet eyes glinted dangerously. "Micah, do you know what happened to my girls?" Micah would've preferred that she had yelled at him instead of the quiet, controlled, and dangerous tone she was using now.

"Um…w-what do you mean, ma'am?" he said, though he already had guessed the answer.

Shino stood up and walked to the side of the bath, revealing what was in the water. There was a cluckadoodle who was wading happily in the water. Underneath the animal was something long and shimmery. It took Micah a moment to realize what it was. From its tail down was not a pair of legs, but instead a long and smooth tail like a mermaid's. "Pia," he whispered in horror. The bizarre-looking animal started to emit a strange, almost tune-like call. Micah realized it was Pia trying to sing. She ducked for a moment below water and when she pulled back up a squid was trapped in her beak.

"Then where's…" his voice trailed off. That's when he noticed the other pair of eyes on him. Off from the other side of the bath was another cluckadoodle with reddish-pink eyes. "Sakuya," he finished. Suddenly there was something cold against the back of his neck. Micah had a feeling he knew what it was.

"So I shall ask again, Micah," Shino said behind him in a blood-chilling tone. "Do you know what happened to my girls?"

Micah gulped. "Uh…please don't kill me."

"Oh, I won't. That is," her eyes glinted menacingly, "as long as you see that my girls are alright. Understood?"

"Y-yes, ma'am," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He wasn't succeeding very well.

"Good. Run along now." The cold, chilling item was removed from his neck. Micah instantly ran to the cluckadoodles and scooped them up into his arms. He was about to bolt out the door when Shino grabbed him by the back of his collar. He didn't dare turn around to look at her.

"And Micah?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Return my girls back to me in any condition less than perfect and the two of us shall have some serious problems."

Micah tried to remember how to speak, but fortunately he didn't need to. There was a loud _smack_ and Micah was suddenly thrown out of the bathhouse, landing face-first on the ground outside of the inn. The cluckadoodles were out of his arms and landed easily on the ground in front of him. They stared at the pained boy curiously. Micah groaned and looked up to see Marian towering above him with a smirk on her face.

"Soooo, how did it go?" she asked sweetly. "Would you like some medicine?"

Micah groaned again, and let his head drop onto the ground with a thud. He has learned five things in the last five minutes:

1. Never mess with a skilled swordsman.

2. Never mess with a skilled swordsman who is also a mom.

3. Never mess with a skilled swordsman who is also a mom named Shino.

4. If you do mess with a skilled swordsman who is also a mom named Shino, use a certain blue-haired witch as a body shield.

5. If your profession is cluck-napping, find a new profession to avoid messing with a skilled swordsman who is also a mom named Shino.

Micah knew he would always remember those rules…

* * *

**_Phew!_**** That took much longer than I thought to finish this chapter. I'm happy that it's completed (even though it was fun to write), and I hope you're satisfied with it! In case you're wondering why I only turned the marriage candidates to cluckadoodles, well, I really have no good answer for you except: I don't know, it just ended up that way for whatever reason…**

** Anyways, thank you for waiting and for reading! **


	8. Chapter 8: Clucksitting (oh, the puns!)

**Tired of my puns yet..? Well, too bad! **

**Sorry this chapter took a bit to write; it was rather difficult to get down, actually. A good majority of it had to do with characterization and details, so I hope I did everything alright. Anyways, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: The answer is no.**

* * *

Micah and Marian had just dropped off the two new feathery additions at the barn. Now the cluck-nappers were leaning against the side of the building, looking out to his dusty fields. His three buffamoos were peacefully taking their daily stroll through the area, and every once in a while they would make a few contented moos.

Micah and Marian were tired from all of the running back and forth today, and were relived to just catch their breath. Neither of them talked, but instead they just enjoyed the comfortable silence. They had finally searched all through town and had collected the infected villagers. Now they were finally onto step number five: Find a cure.

"Now that we've rounded up all the cluckadoodles," Micah said, breaking their restful silence and returning to the matters at hand. "We probably should go find Marjorie so she can fix everyone."

"Or…" Marian said slowly. "We can just solve it ourselves."

"What?" Micah turned to look at her. She was staring straight ahead out to the fields, a determined look on her face. "Marian, don't you think that we should leave the rest to Marjorie? We caught everyone so I don't think there's much more we could do."

Suddenly, Marian whipped around to face Micah with her face pleading and her eyes wide. Micah knew he was in trouble. "Micah, just think about it!" she argued, staring up at him with her hands clenched together in front of her. "I don't want to ask Marjorie; she has always fixed my mistakes. Besides, if I fix this I might actually prove to her and everybody else that I am being responsible."

Crud. She had a good point. But would he really trust Marian with something so important that could either save half the villagers or just further harm them? "You know that Marjorie doesn't mind when you make mistakes. She's always willing to help, and she always encourages you whenever you try something," he protested. It was true; no matter what Marian did (including making villagers pass out on several occasions) Marjorie was never very upset at her granddaughter.

"Yes, but even though she supports what I do I can still see the disappointment in her eyes when I mess up." She hesitated for a moment but then she said in an urgent, desperate tone," It _hurts_, Micah. It hurts to see that she's always disappointed that I can't solve my own problems; that I can't take care of myself and others. She may try to hide it, but I always see that she's disappointed. Now for once, I just want to try and fix this. Just _once_. And if I screw up then we can just get Marjorie."

He hesitated, having no idea what to say. She took advantage of his lack of words. "Please, Micah," she said. Micah couldn't help but notice that she said _please_; she never said please. "If I don't find a cure by the time Marjorie comes home from the council, which should happen at around tonight, then we can just go to her and ask for help. But I can _help_ them! All that I'm asking is the time before nightfall." Micah thought it would've been impossible, but her eyes became even sadder than they already were as her bottom lip started to quiver. He could feel his resolve crumbling fast.

"Please, Micah," she said again, staring up at him with that sorrowful, heart-wrenching look in her eyes. "Just give me a chance…"

It was like those violet eyes just absorbed his entire view so he couldn't look away. It reminded him of how a puppy looks when it begs for a treat. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, he groaned and let his head fall against the side of the barn with a loud thud.

"YES!" Marian jumped in the air, her blue hair flying widely. She hugged Micah and her arms locked around his neck.

"I didn't say yes," Micah reminded her in a glum tone, but he was secretly glad to see her cheerful again. All this girl sadness-drama-thing was killing him! No wonder people said that girls dominated everything…

"But you didn't say no!" Marian pointed out, stepping away. Her face was covered in a huge grin.

"Only because you've left me no room to debate."

She waved away his protest and winked at him. "Semantics. Besides, whatever other arguments you had I'm sure I can just beat them down."

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand." Her tone became once again sly, all the sadness suddenly gone from her eyes. "I will have to be at the apothecary working out the cure, _but_ the cluckadoodles can't just be left alone unattended; they'd wreck complete havoc. That means that someone will need to watch them while I work." She smiled sweetly at Micah again.

Micah didn't like where this was going. Again. "Wait, why are you looking at me?"

"Well, you have always been very responsible. That and we can't exactly ask someone else." She tapped each name out on her fingers. "Carlos is a wreck, Raven hates everybody, Gaius never even remembers that he's supposed to sleep, Evelyn would pluck every cluckadoodle bald, and Blaise and Shino already has threatened torture." She summed up, rather out of breath from that long list. "Need I say more?" she managed to say.

The only response that she was received was a few moos from the passing buffamoos, and another groan followed almost immediately by a _thud_.

"I can also mix you up some aspirin if you want," she said eagerly.

Another groan.

Marian smiled and winked again.

And that's how Micah ended up in a crowded barn full of feathers and beaks five minutes later—and with no help from a certain manipulative witch.

* * *

"Hey! Stop that! No pecking allowed!" Micah pulled apart Collette and Pia, who were currently fighting over a piece of squid. Yup, you heard it right: _squid_. Micah quickly found out that a villager's appetite does not change when they're a cluckadoodle. Not. At. All.

He never knew how picky the villagers' tastes were. Sakuya and Carmen would only eat fish (sashimi style, of course), while Daria would gobble up any sardines as long as they were dried. She would try to sneakily smuggle in some Poison Rainbow Trout as well, but Micah refused to give her any. The last time she ate the harmful fish she had gone utterly delirious, and claimed to see giant purple woolies that were out to get her. No thanks; Micah did not need a repeat of that. In response to his rejection, she dyed his hair rainbow colors.

Pia, on the other hand, refused to eat any fish. If she was even two feet close to any sort of the slippery vertebrates that the others were eating she would begin to cry. (A cluckadoodle crying is NOT pretty. They will never stop molting…) Instead, Micah would have to give her either squid or fresh fruit to satisfy her. She refused to eat the fruit if it has been prepared in any way—she would only accept it completely raw and untouched. Her favorite fruit was pink melons…

Sofia would only eat if Micah made a failed dish especially for her (he has become a master at failing). Collette was easier to please since she would eat basically anything. Unfortunately, in order to fuel her constant hunger she would steal food from everyone else. She had even raided the buffamoos' fodder basket. Micah's once bountiful supply of food, fish, and fodder was quickly diminishing (along with his patience).

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about Karina, Shara, or Monica as much. Karina would just drowsily go to the quietest spot she could find and fall asleep, despite the racket everyone else was making. It was almost like she wasn't even there. Shara and Monica must have decided to give Micah a break since they benevolently were rather good-mannered. They stayed close to each other and were rather quiet throughout everything. However, whenever another cluckadoodle came too close to Monica and her sister, Monica would give the intruder several pecks as a hello.

As for the others cluckadoodles, he couldn't exactly sing high praises. Along with their greedy and picky appetite, the rest of the cluckadoodles were actively creating havoc. Daria kept on trying to paint Micah's entire barn rainbow colors, Pia would splash in the water trough and turn into a cluckmaid (as Marian called her), and Sofia wouldn't stop crowing backwards. Also, Carlos was right about Carmen needing her feathers preened regularly. If she was interrupted during her cleaning time (which was quite often) she would get all flustered and would have to start all over again. When Micah would try to get his brush and help her, she would try and peck him.

Surprisingly, the buffamoos were very patient with all of their new feathery roommates. They didn't mind when Collette kept on eating their fodder, and were fine when Shara and Monica decided to rest on their backs. They weren't even upset when their once clean and tidy barn suddenly became a mad house with feathers littering the floors and walls. However, Utters didn't really like it when Daria made her spots multi-colored, but she didn't do anything except give an indignant moo. Overall, Micah was very proud of his patient, 800 pounds softies.

The only person (or cluckadoodle) who had a problem with the buffamoos was Sakuya. She would go to the farthest corner away, and refuse to even go anywhere near them. If one of them went close to her, or even to moo in her general direction, she would shriek and start running all over the barn to get away. Micah's buffamoos seemed pretty wounded at her response, but they wouldn't have known that Sakuya has a phobia when it comes to monsters. Though, if she was her usual height the buffamoos probably wouldn't have scared her as much, but as a cluckadoodle she's only about a foot tall. So in her current state it was understandable that the great buffamoos would be a terror to her. However, the big softies didn't seem to quite grasp that concept, and kept on trying to make friends with Sakuya, much to her distress.

Micah plucked a feather out of his rainbow-colored hair, and slumped against the wall. He watched the havoc of the cluckadoodles unfold in his now filthy and stuffy barn. A liberal amount of differently colored feathers were mixed in his hair, making his head look like an incredible resemblance to a brightly colored nest. Every bare inch of his skin had irritated bumps where he frequently got pecked, and his entire body felt drained. It felt as if every bit of energy was sapped from him, and all he wanted to do was to follow Karina's example nap. At that point, he didn't care if the cluckadoodles set his farm on fire—as long as they didn't bug him anymore.

To sum it all up: Micah couldn't wait until nightfall.

Bessy bent down and swabbed her long tongue gently against his cheek, the texture slick and smooth on his skin. "Remind me never to get a cluckadoodle, Bessy," Micah said tiredly. "I'm going to go on an egg strike." Monica slid down her newly found piggy-back buddy, and pecked Micah's cheek.

"_Chirp_."

* * *

**I know that the second half of this chapter had mostly details or what not, but it was stuck in my head for a while. I couldn't help but imagine how Micah would handle a barn full of crazy cluckadoodles…**

**Anyways, thank you for reading and please review! Oh, by the way, I might make a few little tweaks for this chapter, so don't be surprised if you come back to this segment and it's changed a little. I promise I won't go overboard though, so don't worry!**


	9. Ch 9: Pleasant Dreams & Rude Awakenings

**Wow, I can't believe that I'm almost done with this story. I'm actually a bit sad to see it go, but then I can write more stories! Anyways, a heads-up: the next (and last) chapter may take a little longer to write. This is because I want to publish both the last chapter of this story, and the prologue of my NEW story on the same day. So thank you for waiting, and keep on coming back to check out my new story! I won't give out any spoilers, so you'll just have to wait!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Rune Factory then I would make Evelyn appreciate Gaius more. Sadly, I can't because I don't own it...**

* * *

It was half past five in the evening and Micah was starting to get worried. He hadn't moved from his spot from the floor. The sun would be going down soon, and Marian hadn't shown up yet since she left for the apothecary. If she didn't come by nightfall then Micah would have no choice but to go get Marjorie on his own. However, in the back of his mind the thought made him hesitate; Marian would be so disappointed if she couldn't find a cure.

Suddenly, a loud snore shook Micah away from his deep thoughts. He looked up and noticed how much quieter it was now. Sometime while he was thinking, all of the cluckadoodles must've finally tired out and had started to doze off one by one. Each of them had chosen their own little spot in the barn and was snoozing peacefully. Pia, in her cluckmaid form, was floating gently in the water trough, with Carmen and Sakuya napping beside her on the ground. Karina hadn't woken up once since she had fallen asleep in her little corner. The shop girl was tucked away under a nest of fodder so only her beak peaked out. Sofia had settled herself on a shelf away from the others, and every once in a while you could hear her gently snore. The sisters from the flower shop wouldn't separate from their new friend; they were burrowed under the long mane of Bessy as they slept side by side of each other. Even Collette had found a place to sleep; she was in a sack full of cornels and was resting on top of the grains. Every couple of minutes she would peck at a few of the grains whilst she slept.

The only sounds that could be heard were little snores and soft clucks, the swish of tails from the buffamoos, and the gentle rhythmic breathing from all around. Micah didn't dare to make a single noise in case he would disturb the sleeping animals and thrust them all back into chaos. Finally he could have some peace from a long and very strange day. He just had to ignore the fact that a certain cluckdoodle, who happened to be obsessed with rainbows, had found her way onto his lap and was fast asleep.

Warmth clung comfortably to his skin and the melodic breathing from the animals started to become soothing; like how rain was soothing when it patters at night. The scent of the musty fodder was pleasing as it brushed up against him on the floor. His eyelids started to become heavy, and they began to droop as he leaned back his head. An image of a smiling girl with flowers sprinkled in her orange hair was printed on the back of his eyelids.

He had only shut his eyes for what seemed like a second when a loud bang came from the doorway. Micah's dream was shaken by the loud sound. _What now? _He thought hazily. _Maybe if I just keep my eyes close whatever it is will go away..._

"Micah, _Micah_,_**MICAH**_! I got it!" The irritating noise was high-pitched and started to break through Micah's calm, relaxed demeanor. The sweet dream started to slip away from him.

_Keep your eyes shut. _He thought desperately, as he tried to return to the pretty girl. _It's just a bird. A very loud, irritating bird that can talk. _

"Micah, why are your eyes so tightly squinted shut? And why do you have a cluckadoodle on your lap?" The voice continued drilling through his thoughts. It sounded much closer.

_Eyes shut. Eyes shut. Eyes shut._

He could hear the sounds of the cluckadoodles as they began to stir from the new disruption. Daria twitched irritably on his lap. Suddenly he could smell an oddly familiar scent. It smelled like fresh vegetables, as if he was out in his fields after his crops were ripe. It also reminded him of something else, but he couldn't remember exactly what…

Something began to poke his cheek roughly. _Poke. Poke._

That's it. Dream was gone.

He finally gave up with a sigh. "Yes, Marian? What is it?"

He blinked open his eyes and was startled to see large, purple orbs right in front of his view. Barely an inch away from him was Marian's face, her eyes staring intently into his blue ones. Her finger was still poised in the air, prepared to poke him again if needed. Slowly a smile spread on her lips. In her hand was a small tube with a cork that was thrust stubbornly in the opening. Inside it contained a murky green liquid. She dangled it in his face. "I got it," she said again in a sing-song voice.

That made Micah instantly become alert (as if he wasn't already). He gently placed Daria off his lap and on the ground as he got up. When he looked up he noticed the messy and bizarre state of Marian's hair. "Since when did you have Carmen's hair?"

Marian impatiently blew a green strand out of her eyes. "Don't ask," was all she said. Then she raised her eyebrow at him. "Since when did you have rainbow-colored hair?"

"Don't ask." As he spoke he tried to keep his tone low so he wouldn't wake up any of the cluckadoodles. He changed the subject as he regarded the vile in her hand warily. "That's the cure? Are you sure it will work?"

"What? Do you doubt my supreme skills?"

Micah didn't respond to that. Instead he asked, "So how does it work then?"

"Simple! All you do is put some of the cure in my needle,—" she gestured to her trademark needle in her other hand—"shoot it at a cluckadoodle, and voila! One cured villager!"

"And you're sure it's safe?"

"Probably." She shrugged as she opened the small tube and dripped the foul-smelling liquid into her needle.

"Probably?" he repeated, panic settling in.

"Yup." She hoisted the needle and closed one eye as she took aim of the nearest target: Daria.

"Wait! Marian!" Micah tried to stop her but she was too fast (probably because she's used to encountering resistance for her treatments). There was a loud _pop_ and immediately it was followed by a screech. Daria leaped in the air, her hat flying off of her head. With a loud thump Daria fell back down and lay there motionlessly.

The sound woke up the rest of the cluckadoodles. Before they could even cluck, they had all become victims of the witch. She was like a pro; with one eye closed Marian let loose several more rapid pops of her needle, and with every one another cluckadoodle jumped in the air. She hit every feathery beast without a single mistake. In the span of a minute, all the cluckadoodles were injected. Micah could just gape as Marian twirled her needle like a professional and blew at the top of it with a satisfied look. "Done."

Micah took in the damage. He sucked in a breath; all of the cluckadoodles were slumped to the ground in motionless positions. "W-what did you _do_?!"

Marian casually patted him on the back. "Give them a few minutes. It should only take a little while for the cure to set in. If they don't wake up by then…well, we were going to get Marjorie anyways." Micah didn't know how to respond. It was too many shocks and surprises for one day. He just stood there frozen.

Marian seemed to sense that Micah wasn't reassured (perhaps by the fact he still wasn't moving and his face was ghostly pale). So she decided a distraction might help. "I think I've figured out why you and I were not affected by the virus."

When Micah didn't respond to her prompt she continued anyways. "Since you're already half-monster it wouldn't make sense that you would turn into another monster, as well. Your body has already reached the maximum of its transformation, so it naturally rejected the virus when it came to you. Besides, it wouldn't be fair for the rest of us if you could become a human, a wooly, _and _a cluckadoodle. You would automatically get free wool and eggs."

Micah still wasn't responding so she continued obliviously. "As for me, my theory is that I've built up a high resistance to illnesses. Otherwise I would probably be permanently disabled or something from the concoctions I regularly make. Though…how Collette isn't permanently affected by the secret doses I give her, I'm not really sure. And for the rest of the villagers," she shrugged, "I suppose that's a mystery. Maybe I could do some tests on them later…"

Still no response. Marian waved her hand in front of Micah's unregistering eyes. "Hellooo? Micah?" Then she said in a louder voice. "MICAH! Shara wants to make out with you!" Micah blinked once, but otherwise just continued to stand there as frozen as a statue.

Marian pondered this for a second. Utters mooed indignantly from where she stood. This was probably because everyone except Marian and the buffamoos were unconscious.

Marian, however, took the animal's moo as a different sign. She nodded. "I agree, Miss Buffamoo. Your master needs to be fixed." Then she inserted another vile into her needle. With a powerful thrust she stabbed her needle into Micah's arm. "Beddy-bye time!"

Micah collapsed on the ground, face-first. He reentered his dream about kissing a certain girl…

* * *

**And that's all folks! Until next time! Thanks for reading!**

**Oh, and if you don't review, even though you liked the chapter, then I'll bring over a certain witch and her needle to convince you!**

**Just kidding! Maybe...hehehe...**


	10. Ch10: All's Well That Ends Sort of Well

Micah was walking through a field of flowers. It only took him a second to realize it was the Privera Flower Field; he would know the place anywhere. The flowers gently danced in the breeze and the air just seemed to shimmer as if it was magical. The air was warm where it touched his skin, and lovely fragrances were all around him.

In the distance he could see a familiar figure standing amongst the blossoms. The person's back was turned to him so he could see locks of hair past the figure's shoulder. As Micah walked closer to the person they turned around to face him. The person smiled and it made Micah's heart start to flutter. She had such a nice smile…

"Micah, what are you doing here?" Shara asked, a puzzled but delighted look on her face.

He tried to search for an answer to her question, but no words came to him. Why _was_ he here? Something at the back of his mind bothered him but he couldn't place his finger on it…

As if his brain was disconnected from his voice he said, "I just wanted to see you." What made him say that he didn't know, but it was too late to take it back now.

"Oh." An adorable blush came over Shara's fair skin, and she took a hesitant step closer to him.

"Micah, I was wondering if—um, I mean, if you—eh, n-n-nevermind." Her face became even redder and she shook her head in a flustered manner, letting her sentence trail off.

"Shara, what is it? You can tell me anything, you know."

Shara bit her lip, her usual smile gone, and looked down. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, in her usual manner—Micah had always found that trait so endearing. She looked like she was debating something. He was about to break the silence to help, but then she took a step closer. And another step. And another one. And another.

She didn't stop until she was just inches away from Micah, making his heart beat frantically; the scent of pink cats lightly flowing from her as she came nearer. She looked up at him and he could see every delicate eyelash that framed her soft blue eyes; every small freckle that spotted her cheeks. He was sure that she could hear his pounding heart. "I was wondering if—," she said the words carefully, "—if you like me."

"Of course I do. You know that…"

She hesitated and gently shook her head. "No. I meant…_like_ me more than you would just a friend."

He could feel heat rise up in his face. Oh crud, why must his brain go frozen now? A part of his mind chided him. _Say something, you idiot! She's waiting for an answer!_

Instead of saying anything, he just nodded. A brilliant smile appeared on her face, making her eyes sparkle and her features lighting up. That was enough encouragement for his brain to start functioning again.

"I do," he said, his heart pounding in his ears. "I really like you, Shara. A lot. I've always had."

Shara kept on smiling. She raised her hands and clasped them behind Micah's neck. "Kiss me, then," she said softly.

And he did. Their lips touched and Micah felt as if he was floating in bliss. After a long moment they broke apart; Shara's hands still against his neck. "Oh, Monica is going to hate me," she whispered.

She reached up on her toes, trailing a path of kisses against his cheek. The scent of pink cats clung to her skin, his skin, as the feel of her lips continued to brush softly against his face. Suddenly there was a warm pressure by his ear. Then the feeling became steadily warmer. The warmth increased until it was no longer comfortable but hot—too hot…

* * *

An odd sound came from the distance, forcing his dream to fade. The sound seemed familiar…it was like a cackling—almost wheezing—sound. Micah tried to push the sound away but it kept becoming louder and louder. Then another voice appeared—this one was far too familiar for him to forget. He was recently required to listen to the voice for hours.

"Do you think I gave him too much?"

The cackling voice replied, "Nah, the tree boy is young and fit. He'll wake up soon." Only one person in the whole town called him '_tree boy'_.

Micah still had his eyes closed when the strong heat came back to his ear. This time it felt oddly slimy. It reminded him of every morning when…oh, no.

His eyes flew open. Taking up his whole view, was the head of Bessy the buffamoo. Her brown eyes stared at him contentedly for a moment, and then she returned to cleaning out his ear with her tongue.

"No, Bessy, _no!_" Micah sat up so fast that his head began to spin. He looked up to see Marian (her previously green hair back to its normal bright blue shade) and Marjorie bursting out in laughter at him. He rubbed his slimy ear vigorously and spat out a piece of fodder that was somehow in his mouth. It took him a minute to realize that he was sitting on the floor of the dirty barn. Not a single cluckadoodle was in sight.

"Did you know," Marian said, in between gasps of breaths and laughter, "that you talk in your sleep? You were murmuring something about '_so silky'_ and '_adorable hands_' at about the same time that Bessy decided your ears needed cleaning. That must have been one _good_ dream."

Micah's face turned a bright red. He looked to Marjorie for help, but the old witch was laughing even harder than Marian. "Young men, nowadays! I think that wooly brain is affecting you, tree boy!" she cackled. "Too much fur up there!"

"That makes no sense," Micah mumbled, but neither of them were listening. "Where is everyone, anyways?" Micah got up from the floor and brushed off his clothes nervously. Strands of fodder were still stuck in his hair from lying on the dirty ground, but he ignored that for now. "What happened? I remember Marian had shot all of the cluckadoodles—I mean, villagers—and then after that I can't remember."

"Oh, don't worry," Marian said, with a grin still on her face. "Memory loss is a common thing after a dose of a knock-out shot."

_"What?"_

Marian waved away his distress. "Anyways, the important news is that the villagers are cured. And it's all thanks to me!"

Marjorie raised an incredulous eyebrow at her granddaughter. "Don't you mean that it's all thanks to _me_?"

The young witch suddenly looked bashful and looked down at her feet. "O-of course, dearest Grandmother." Only Marjorie could get Marian to be slightly more humble. _Slightly_.

Marjorie pinched her granddaughter's cheek, much to Marian's dislike, while Micah stared at them in confusion. "_Sooo_, what happened exactly?" he asked, trying to unsuccessfully fill in the blanks.

"Well, my cure did work," Marian said indignantly. "In a couple of minutes the medicine took effect, and then everyone turned back into their usual human selves. Eh, more or less, that is. There are some, shall we say _side effects_. Only minor side effects, you know…"

"The lot of them are still molting their feathers and crowing like a cluckadoodle. Not to mention, Marian also gave them all a nasty cold." Marjorie stated, while Marian began to look sheepish again.

"I _did_ say more or less," Marian mumbled.

Marjorie continued, ignoring her granddaughter. "I finished up the council meeting, and got here just in time to see all the villagers shedding feathers. A good majority of the side effects have worn off, but some of it is still there. They're all resting up at the apothecary now, if you want to check up on them."

"Yeah, I really want to see if everyone is alright," Micah said. Then something dawned on him… "Wait, you two took everyone else back to the apothecary, but left _me_ lying on the floor?"

"You're alive, aren't you, tree boy?" Marjorie said in a condescending tone. Then a familiar glint shone in her eyes. (Now he knew where Marian got it from.) "Besides, we didn't want to interrupt you from your sweet dreams."

Micah's face turned red, and Marian patted him on the head twice. "There, there. I can make you some tea if you would like."

* * *

Micah only made one stop before he rushed to the apothecary; leaving Marian and Marjorie still laughing at him behind at the barn. In less than twenty minutes he stood in the apothecary. To his relief, all of the smelly goop was cleaned up so the only scent in the air was herbs and medicine. However it was much, _much _more crowded than usual. Every inch of space was taken up by rows of patients' beds and visitors sitting at the bedsides. Pieces of furniture were pushed against the walls to make room for the overflowing number of people. Usually the apothecary only tended to about one person at a time (thus generally only one patient's bed), but almost the entire village was crammed into the building.

All of the cured villagers, who were previously cluckadoodles, were back in their human forms and lying down on the numerous neat beds. Marjorie wasn't exaggerating when she was telling him about the side effects. On just about all of the patients were feathers that hung from their faces and bodies. It wasn't a very appealing sight; every time one of them sneezed from their cold another flurry of feathers would be sent into the air. Every so often an accidental cluck would be heard from the patients still getting over Marian's side effects. Squashed between the rows of beds sat each patient's visitors.

Carlos was the first person to greet Micah. The fisherman rose from his seat by Carmen's bedside, and made his way to Micah with a fair deal of difficulty. He had to scoot in between the tight rows of people and it seemed like every other second he accidently stepped on someone's foot. After a torrent of apologizes for the people he stepped on, he finally made his way to Micah.

He patted Micah on his back. "Bro, you totally saved my sister!"

"It was Marian who made the cure," Micah said honestly, but Carlos wasn't going to believe that the crazy witch had actually made a successful medicine.

Carlos laughed and he regarded Micah with an exceedingly appreciative look. "Bro, if you're ever in need of some free fish or some back-up muscle, you know where to look. But even though you saved my sister, that doesn't mean I won't beat you up if you look at her in the wrong way."

Micah noticed his friend's suddenly stern look and he nodded quickly. "Understood."

"Great! Now I think I'm in the need of some wine…" He patted Micah once more on the back (rather roughly, if I might add), and made his way back to his sister who was currently sneezing up feathers.

As soon as he was gone he was encountered by another person. Thankfully, this time the person didn't have their sword at hand.

"Hello, Shino." Micah gave a slight bow (which was rather hard to do in the crowded space).

"Micah," the swordsman said. "You have done well in looking after my girls. Not perfect, but well enough so I don't have to use my sword."

"Thank you, ma'am, but it was Marian who had fixed everyone."

Shino raised an eyebrow. "That would explain the feathers. Marjorie has reassured me that those effects will go away soon. Until then," she sighed, "I have some cleaning to do. Feathers make quite a mess."

"I'd be more than happy to help," Micah said politely. He was often asked (aka: tricked) to help clean at the bathhouse—usually without any pay.

"I would…appreciate that. Thank you, Micah." Shino walked back to her girls. Pia was enthusiastically telling Sakuya how fun it was to swim as a cluckmaid.

No one else came up to Micah, so he made his way through the snug rows of beds as he searched through the room. On his way, Collette and Blaise waved to him from across the room. Blaise nodded his head and smiled in silent gratitude while Collette yelled enthusiastically from where she laid; saying that the next dinner would be on the house (hopefully not anything that involved cluckadoodles). As he passed, scanning the rows, he spotted Sofia in a patient's bed, a few feathers still clinging to her skin. Sitting by her was Evelyn and Sherman; each of them talking in their odd way. If you watched carefully you could see that Evelyn would snatch a fallen feather every so often.

The only person who didn't have a visitor was Daria. She was lying down in another bed that was by the corner of the room. In her hand she held a paintbrush, and her eyes were fixed on the sketchbook that rested on her lap. The brush busily swept across the surface of the sketchbook in a rapid motion. The elf didn't seem particularly lonely, but Micah still felt a bit sad for her lack of visitors. He was about to change his course to go to her, when another person opened the apothecary door. Zaid uncertainly entered the room, his famous silver eyes scanning the beds. He perked up when he saw Daria, and he puffed out his chest as he walked towards her. In just a minute, the elf and the dwarf were deep in discussion; presumably about silver being added to the colors of the rainbow.

Though Micah was relieved to see that the villagers were alright, he still had a knot of anxiety in his chest—he had yet to see the people he truly was there for. Out of nowhere, Raven stepped out of the shadows. Micah jumped at her sudden appearance, but she ignored his reaction. "They're over there," she said, pointing upstairs. "There wasn't enough room to fit them downstairs."

"Right. Thanks, Raven."

The mysterious girl nodded solemnly and melted back into the shadows. Micah clomped up the stairs, leaving the loud racket behind. About half way up he could hear the whispers of quiet conversations.

A small voice asked, "Why isn't he here?"

"I'm sure he's on his way. You just have to wait a little longer," said another voice.

A more gruff voice added, "If he doesn't get here soon and disappoints little Monica, I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind!"

The small voice giggled while the other protested, "_Grandpa_!"

Micah smiled amusedly and went up the last step. In Marjorie's room, Wells was sitting on a stool in between where Monica was lying down on presumably Marjorie's bed, and where Shara was lying on another bed across from Monica. Micah popped threw the doorway, his arms wide apart, and he said in a peppy voice, "Who missed me?"

"Micah!" Monica was practically jumping in her bed at the sight of him. Her face widened into a smile, but then it quickly turned into a sad pout. "It's not fair, Micah! First I had Cluckadoodle Pox, then I turned _into_ a cluckadoodle, and now I have a cold."

"I know it's rough, but you'll be better soon." Micah took out something from his pocket and handed it to the girl. "Take this. I got it from the Privera Field before I came here." In his hand was a small pink cat flower.

Monica giggled when she took it. "Thank you, Micah."

Luckily, there were no feathers left on her skin, though her face was still pale from the cold. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Shara. Several feathers clung to her face, and she had arranged her orange hair to try to hide some of them—it wasn't working too well.

"Hello, Micah," Shara said a bit self-consciously. She tried to slyly pull a few more strands of hair over her face.

"Nice job on saving my grandchildren, youngster." Wells said from his seat. "Though, I think I need to have a little chat with Marian…"

Micah laughed nervously as Monica tried to get his attention.

"Micah, the apothecary isn't too bad after all," informed Monica. "Marjorie has pinky-promised that she wouldn't let Marian come to see me, and if Marian does sneak up then I can bite her all I want. Also, Marjorie has been teaching me how to knit! See?" The little girl held up a bundle of half-finished blue yarn that was beginning to resemble the shape of a hat.

"Wow, that's very nice," Micah said, affectionately tousling the little girl's hair.

Wells grumbled, "Perhaps, but I could've taught her how to do it better than that old witch."

Monica stared up innocently at her grandfather. "But I thought you said that Marjorie was really talented. And that you thought she had really pretty hair. And that you liked how she laughs. And—"

Wells covered the little girl's mouth with his hand. "T-that's enough, Monica, sweetie. How would you like a cookie when we get home, hmm?" Micah would never have thought it possible, but it looked like the old man was blushing.

As the two squabbled, Micah walked to where Shara was. He sat down gently on the side of the bed, the scent of flowers slight in the air, while Shara was nervously looking away. "Hey," he said softly. "I got you this." He took out a delicate toyherb flower and presented it to her. "Freshly picked and just for you."

"That's very nice," Shara said, but she didn't take the flower. Her gaze was pointedly away from him.

He lowered the flower and looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Is something wrong, Shara?"

She quickly shook her head, tossing even more hair in her face. "No, nothing." A light pinkness showed through the strands of her hair, coloring her cheeks, but whether it was from stress or something else he couldn't tell.

Micah slowly brushed his hand over her face, and pulled back her silky orange locks behind her ears. In doing so, he also revealed the multiple white feathers attached to her. "Don't hide your face, okay? I don't like it when I can't see you."

Now Shara's face was even redder. She still avoided his gaze as she flustered. "B-b-but Micah, the feathers—they're-they're—"

"I don't care about that," Micah said firmly, staring into her blue eyes. "Listen. Once you're well again why don't we take a walk through Privera Flower Field, okay? I want to tell you something."

For the first time since he arrived, Shara looked him in the eyes. A timid smile passed her lips as she nodded. "Okay."

The two of them talked for a long while, totally oblivious to the fact that Monica and Wells were silently watching them. At one point, Marian poked her head through the doorway with her trusty needle in hand. She was about to say something when she saw Monica threateningly chomping her teeth at her. The blue-haired witch wisely backed away and went back down the staircase, while Shara and Monica were alone in their own little world, gazing into each other eyes.

* * *

** Wow, I cannot believe that it is actually done. D.O.N.E! I have to admit, this chapter, amongst the others, became much more "fluffier" than I originally planned out. Ha, I suppose I lost a lot of my subtlety in the last romantic bits. Oh well, I suppose. Since I write more spontaneously than anything (meaning I just sit down and write with only 25% percent of a vague plan, and the other percent just writing as it comes to me) just about anything can happen. And the whole dream sequence was definitely NOT part of any plan I had in mind until the last minute, but I think it added a nice sweetness and humor to the story later. Also, I will continue to check/change for any typos I might have missed in the first drafts, so if you come back to the story and it is slightly changed, please do not be alarmed. I won't make any HUGE, completely different plot changes. Anyways, enough with that ramble.**

**Also, I kind of lied. Sorry! I was full-on planning to publish this last chapter and the prologue to my new story on the same day, but my impatience got the best of me. Don't worry though; I think it will only take about 1-3 days for me to publish my new story. However, I will give you a little sneak-peak: It will be about Harvest Moon (sorry for those who only play Rune Factory) and it will involve around a bet/contest that takes place in ten days (I sure do love the number ten…).**

**And lastly, I would like to thank those who have loyally followed my first multi-chapter story all the way! Thank you; you're the best! I hope you have enjoyed my story, and I would really appreciate it if you were to continue coming back for more (because there will be more)! Also, I would gladly accept reviews whether they are praises or friendly criticism. I don't care if they are one page to one word—as Kuruna would say: "GIMME, GIMME!" So yeah, to sum it all up: please come back for more, and I will love any reviews I get! Thanks!**


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